The earliest records of the court of Admiralty portray not only the origin of maritime law as we know it
today, but are also important records of the origin of international law due to the court of Admiralty's jurisdiction over commercial contracts and foreign trade.

This edition contains the laws of Oleron with eleven additional rules; and an Appendix of documents including the statutes of Richard II and Henry IV's reign concerning Admiralty jurisdiction.

Sir Travers Twiss (1809-1897) was Professor of Political Economy in the University of Oxford, Professor of International Law in King's College, London and Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford. In 1862 he was appointed Advocate-General to the Admiralty, and in 1867 Queen's Advocate-General, the same year he was knighted